Deputies: Gunmen ransack home with children inside

7 children, babysitter inside home

HOUSTON - Seven children were inside a northwest Harris County apartment when burglars ransacked the home at gunpoint, Harris County Sheriff's officials said.

A babysitter, who did not want to be identified, said he had no choice but to watch helplessly as burglars ransacked an apartment in the 16,100 block of Keith Harrow Blvd. What's worse, he said, seven children were also in the apartment and many more kids were right outside.

Just moments before the thieves busted in, Brian Matas said he and his friends were unknowingly playing with the armed men in the parking lot.

"When we were playing soccer with them, they were asking us a bunch of questions," said Matas. "They were asking where we live and who lives closest."

In the middle of the soccer game, nine-year-old Kayla Jiminez said one of the men asked for a glass of water. She and her friends said they went upstairs and opened the door to their apartment, and the men forced their way inside.

"They just knocked over the door and went in with a bunch of guns," said Matas. "They told us if we didn't get out of here, they were going to shoot us with the guns," said Jiminez.

The babysitter told Local 2 he was supposed to be watching seven children who were still in the apartment, but he stepped away right before the invasion. While Jiminez ran away, the babysitter said he ran upstairs to where the thieves were, when he heard the screaming.

The babysitter said that's when the men shoved a gun to his head, then ran out with valuables from the apartment. No one was hurt, but they will not soon forget the terrifying experience. "We were scared because we thought he might die," said Jiminez.

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